Lady Mavs soccer’s new locker room taking shape for coming season
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The Lady Mavericks will have a new locker room facility for the coming season, thanks to community support.
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Although there is much work left to do to the interior, the locker room will be available during the 2024 season.
The beginning of the 2024 high school girls soccer season is looming, and area teams will be hitting the pitch in a little more than a month.
Expectations will be lofty for Anderson County High School.
But when the season begins, the Lady Mavericks will have a new locker room.
The team’s booster club began fundraising efforts for the new dressing facility 18 months ago, and the building is under construction.
“We started this (effort) ... and we had some big donors,” ACHS girls soccer booster club president Jason Shock said. “It began when we saw that the girls didn’t have a place to get dressed before the game.
“They were dressing in the bathrooms and in the cafeteria, and we as parents thought that was ridiculous, so we decided that we needed to do this ... and we started raising money.”
The effort to fund and construct the new facility has been difficult, but the booster club’s board decided to take on the project rather than wait for the school district to build a facility.
Major donors include Bob Swisher, of Bob Swisher Properties, and John and Sondra Faris, the local McDonald’s franchisees.
“It’s been very difficult and we had no idea how much red tape there was when you want to build on public ground,” Shock said.
“The booster club board meets monthly, and I couldn’t do it without every one of them.”
The girls soccer team has also received support from the ACHS administration, including Principal Ben Downs and Athletic Director Gary Terry.
“Gary Terry has been very supportive; he comes to all our games, and he’s the first one there and he’s the last one to leave,” Shock said. “He turns the lights off. Ben Downs has been another big supporter for us.
“Our parents have all been great, and I can’t say enough about our girls. (Head Coach) Chris (Curtin) has been a big help for us, and we have great parents.”
Shock also noted that contractors in the community have stepped up for the team during the construction process.
“Jason Malady of Mountain Barn Builders has absolutely been great,” Shock said. “Bob Krass and C&C Concrete and Tommy Moore Contractors have been a big help. They didn’t charge us for labor.”
The facility will be completed in time for the new season and will benefit 31 players, as the Lady Mavericks had a record turnout for summer workouts.